Category: Antennas

Arrow RF & Power Reaches Agreement with Maxtena

Arrow Electronics, Inc., has announced that its RF & Power business will globally distribute products from Maxtena, Inc., a developer and producer for wireless solutions, including GNSS, Iridium, Inmarsat and Thuraya satellites, and terrestrial M2M, MSS and LTE applications.

Arrow RF & Power will distribute Maxtena’s line of rugged and compact helix antennas, microstrip antennas, and combo antennas, and will also support customers with custom wireless solutions ranging from smart metering to 4G LTE. Maxtena’s products are designed for portable wireless applications including satellite phones, communications gear, handheld navigation, asset tracking, UAVs, recreational devices, and industrial equipment.

“Maxtena’s proprietary Helicore technology provides high-performing yet miniaturized antenna solutions,” said Mark Vitellaro, director, strategic marketing, Arrow RF & Power. “Maxtena’s technical and competitive advantages combined with our technical and customer support will enable design engineers to utilize the optimum antenna solution for their needs.”

“Maxtena is very excited to have Arrow RF & Power on board as an authorized distribution partner,” stated Vanja Maric, director of sales and marketing, Maxtena. “Their product and technology knowledge and expertise, along with their ability to form strong and lasting customer relationships make Arrow RF & Power a perfect fit for Maxtena and our unique products.”

More information is available at www.arrow.com/rfpower.

June 16, 2014
Ethertronics Unveils GPS Helix Antenna for Mission-Critical Applications

EtherHelix GPS antenna.

Ethertronics has unveiled EtherHelix GPS, a small, stand-alone, Right Hand Circularly Polarized (RHCP) external GPS antenna. Measuring 35 mm in length, the EtherHelix GPS is 27 percent shorter than other antennas on the market with no performance trade-offs, the company said. It is designed for high-performance, mission-critical devices such as walkie-talkies, tough books, tough tablets, first responders, public safety, military applications and more.

EtherHelix can be tuned for various satcom frequencies and various polarizations (RHCP or LHCP). EtherHelix GPS is designed using Ethertronics’ patented Isolated Magnetic Dipole (IMD) technology providing high performance and efficiency in a small form factor.

EtherHelix GPS has a high tolerance to frequency shifts given the technology’s high RF isolation, which is designed to resist antenna detuning that can otherwise impair reception. EtherHelix GPS provides exceptional coverage inside buildings, vehicles or other areas where weak signals and signal reflection occur, the company said.

“GPS capabilities are critical for first responders and military applications. It is imperative that the antennas used in these devices are high-performance, small and rugged,” said Olivier Robin, general manager Americas and Europe at Ethertronics. “EtherHelix GPS is the most recent example of Ethertronics’ leadership in developing industry-first RF solutions to provide manufacturers with a way to differentiate their products and stand out in a competitive market. Already we have seen interest in our new EtherHelix GPS antenna given its best-in-class performance coupled with its smallest occupied volume.”

Given its reduced weight and size — 11.8 g and 35 mm long by 15 mm in diameter — manufacturers benefit from simpler integration for an array of GPS devices, Ethertronics said. In addition, the new GPS antenna’s capabilities include high selectivity, which minimizes the need for additional filters. EtherHelix GPS’s ruggedized design includes IP-68 protection from dust and water, as well as a standard SMA male connector for easy integration. The RoHS Compliant antenna is designed and manufactured in the United States.

EtherHelix GPS is commercially available now and is the first in a series of antennas for mission-critical applications.

June 5, 2014
VectorNav Launches Dual-Antenna GPS-Aided Inertial Nav System
The VectorNav VN-300

VectorNav Technologies has introduced its VN-300 dual-antenna GPS-aided inertial navigation system (GPS/INS). A follow-on product to the VN-100 IMU/AHRS and VN-200 GPS/INS, the miniature, high-performance VN-300 enables a wider range of applications through the incorporation of GPS compassing techniques.

The VN-300 can be used in a wide variety of industrial and military applications, and is well suited for size, weight, power, and cost (SWAP-C)-constrained applications such as unmanned vehicle systems; antenna, camera and platform stabilization; heavy machinery monitoring; robotics; and primary or secondary flight navigation, among others. The VN-300 will be on display and available for review at VectorNav’s booth #330 at AUVSI in Orlando May 13-15.

Incorporating the latest MEMS sensor technology, the VN-300 combines 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis gyros, 3-axis magnetometers, a barometric pressure sensor, two GPS receivers, and a low-power microprocessor into a rugged aluminum enclosure about the size of a matchbox. When in motion, the VN-300 couples the position and velocity measurements from the onboard GPS receivers with measurements from the onboard inertial sensors to provide position, velocity, and attitude estimates of higher accuracies and with better dynamic performance than a standalone GPS receiver or Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS).

The dual GPS receivers incorporated into the VN-300 provide the added benefit of accurate True North heading measurements when the sensor is stationary through the use of GPS compassing techniques, the company said. The VN-300 is designed for applications that require a highly accurate inertial navigation solution under both static and dynamic operating conditions, especially in environments with unreliable magnetic heading and good GPS visibility.

VN-300 Differentiating Features:
- The VN-300 has small size, low weight, and low power requirements.
- With Development Kits priced around $5k USD, the VN-300 is a fraction of the cost of similarly performing dual-antenna GPS/INS systems and is competitively priced with other MEMS-based GPS/INS systems that do not provide the dual-antenna moving baseline RTK features.
- The GPS compass feature coupled with the GPS/INS capabilities on the VN-300 enables applications that require high-accuracy position, velocity, and attitude measurements under both static and dynamic operating conditions.
- The algorithms on board the VN-300 enable applications to seamlessly transition between static and dynamic operations without having to collect extended stationary measurements or perform specific dynamic maneuvers in flight for attitude alignment.
- The VN-300 incorporates a “True INS Filter” that does not force any requirements on alignment of the sensor to the velocity direction of a platform or specify the orientation of the sensor for initial alignment.
“The VN-300 is unique in that it provides a complete, high performance GPS-aided navigation solution under both stationary and moving conditions, all in a miniature and cost-effective package,” said VectorNav President, John Brashear. “By addressing some of the most difficult issues users face when trying to integrate an inertial navigation system — high cost; large size, weight and power; unreliable magnetic environments; and restrictive operating requirements — the VN-300 will enable an unprecedented number of applications.”
May 13, 2014
Tallysman Offers Low Current Multi-Constellation Compact GPS Antennas

Tallysman TW4327 and TW4329 antennas.

Tallysman Wireless, Inc., is offering a family of very low power, compact, high-performance GNSS antennas for precision, commercial, and military applications.

Based in Ottawa, Canada, Tallysman Wireless, is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance GNSS, Iridium, and Globalstar antennas and associated components.

The TW4327 and TW4329 are low-power GPS L1 + GLONASS G1 antennas that feature current consumption of 1.75 mA typically and parametrically invariant performance over a supply range from 2.5V to 12V.

The TW4327 offers a 21-dB gain minimum, and the TW4329 includes a narrow pre-filter to prevent front end saturation by near out-of-band interfering signals.

Both antennas are more tolerant to detuning effects caused by the operational environment, thanks to a 40% thicker patch element that provides wider bandwidth than conventional antennas. These antennas are also very compact (38mm x 38mm x 14.4mm), making them ideal for use in a wide range of locations.

The TW4027 and TW4029 are equivalent antennas for reception of GPS L1 signals.

“These products are ideal for any battery operated applications where low power is a pre-requisite,” said Gyles
Panther CEO of Tallysman Wireless, “and the wider patch element bandwidth will minimize detuning in non-ideal
environments, such as in covert applications.”

Tallysman Wireless has recently added an authorized distributor of its products for Russia (Aurora Mobile Technologies), and another distributor for Asia (Advanced Information Technology, Inc.), for the countries of Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Indonesia, and India.

April 25, 2014
Applied EM Offers Anti-Jam Antenna

Applied EM’s anti-jam GPS antenna, AJGPS045, has achieved a four-channel Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna (CRPA) in a very small size, weight and power (SWAP) particularly suitable for airborne platforms. Its footprint is the same as a standard GPS Fixed Radiation Pattern Antenna (FRPA), the FRPA-3.

This is a key enabler to bringing greatly improved anti-jam performance to smaller platforms and to GPS-equipped platforms that have inadequate anti-jam capability.

When integrated with appropriate four-channel antenna electronics and a military GPS receiver, the AJGPS045 enables L1 and L2 anti-jam performance of typically >80 dB. This is achieved with a passive compact antenna (.7” x 4.6” x 4.6”) that weighs 9 oz.

March 26, 2014
Septentrio, Imec Co-Design Antenna for High-Precision GNSS

photo: Imec and Septentrio

Imec and Septentrio have collaborated to design multi-frequency GNSS antenna that simultaneously receives all GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo bands. Developed under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme project Handheld, the compact antenna can be integrated in multi-frequency handheld GNSS devices for high-precision location applications up to 1 centimeter.

The announcement came at the Mobile World Congress being held this week in Barcelona, Spain.

The compact antenna integrates Imec’s GNSS antenna and Septentrio’s GNSS RF front-end. Imec’s antenna design satisfies the requirements for the high-accuracy GNSS market while remaining small enough to fit in a handheld surveyor device, the companies said. The antenna has desired uniform gain and phase coverage over the complete upper hemisphere, with strong suppression of unwanted reflected signals below or in the vicinity of the GNSS receiver.

The GNSS RF front-end, based on established front-end technology developed by Septentrio, is characterized by a superb out-of-band interference rejection to avoid notably device self-interference with other radiation sources such as Bluetooth and WLAN radios, as well as other ambient intentional and non-intentional interference. The compact multi-frequency antenna is a perfect companion of Septentrio’s compact and low-power AsteRx-m receiver, a credit card-sized dual frequency GNSS receiver that provides centimeter accuracy at less than 500-mW power consumption, by far the lowest power consumption in the professional GNSS market.

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n°287183.

February 24, 2014
Canadian Army to Test NovAtel’s GAJT GPS Anti-Jam Antenna
NovAtel’s GAJT-700ML anti-jamming antenna.

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) has selected NovAtel’s GAJT-700ML antenna for testing on Canadian Army armored vehicles. The GAJT-700ML, developed in Calgary at NovAtel’s global headquarters, is a single-unit GPS anti-jam antenna system for land vehicles.

The testing is being conducted through PWGSC’s Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP).

NovAtel was selected to participate under the BCIP’s “safety and security” priority area. PWGSC will procure a number of GAJT-700MLs on behalf of the Department of National Defense (DND). The Directorate of Land Requirements (DLR) — with the assistance of the Quality Engineering Test Establishment (QETE) and the Land Force Trials and Evaluation Unit (LFTEU) — will oversee all testing on DND’s behalf.

Field testing, centered on battlefield days, is expected to take place in early March of 2014 at 4th Canadian Division Support Garrison Petawawa. The battlefield days will analyze the performance of GAJT on the Artillery Observation Post Variants (OPV) of the Light Armored Vehicle III (LAV III) in operational conditions to confirm the suitability and robustness of GAJT-700ML for this role. The process is expected to be completed by the end of March.

“NovAtel has worked closely with Canadian and Allied defence agencies to test the resilience of the GAJT-700ML in challenging jamming environments,” said Jason Hamilton, vice president, Marketing and Product Management. “The BCIP program provides an opportunity to expand this testing to incorporate end user soldier feedback on the installation and operational effectiveness of GAJT during battlefield usage of the LAV OPV. This invaluable feedback will be used by NovAtel to further drive product innovation in support of Canada and its Allied partners.”

“The Canadian Army requires accurate, secure and reliable access to Global Positioning Systems to conduct operations throughout the full spectrum of conflict in all potential theatres of operation,” said Colonel Andrew Jayne, Director Land Requirements. “With the ever-increasing demands on the electromagnetic spectrum and threat of harmful interference, technologies which contribute to the assurance of position and timing information are a critical enabler of Army and Canadian Armed Forces operations in today and tomorrow’s operating environment.”

GAJT is a null-forming technology that negates jammers, ensuring the satellite signals necessary to compute position and time are always available. Three categories of GAJT are manufactured by NovAtel:
- GAJT-700ML: for use with military land vehicles, networks and timing infrastructure
- GAJT-700MS: for marine vessels, from small boats to capital ships
- GAJT-AE: for use with an external antenna in size and weight constrained applications
The BCIP was created by the Government of Canada to strengthen Canadian innovation. The program offers procurement and testing of pre-commercialized products and services, at a late stage of development. The BCIP:
- Bridges the “pre-commercialization gap”
- Supports Canadian suppliers by connecting innovators and government users and by testing innovations
- Provides real-world evaluation of pre-commercial goods and services
- Improves the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations
January 24, 2014
Saelig Introduces Low-Cost SMD Antennas

Saelig Company, Inc., announces the availability of the Proant OnBoard SMD 2400 (2.4GHz band) and SMD GPS (GPS and GLONASS) miniature surface-mount (SMD) antennas for mobile wireless products. The OnBoard series moves embedded antenna integration one step ahead by combining high performance and low cost in this new OnBoard SMD family, the company said.

Traditionally, small low-cost antennas for printed circuit board assembly have been manufactured with a dielectric substrate as the base for the radiating structure. With this approach, the antenna is normally a rectangular block, which means that the PCB area below the antenna is unavailable for mounting other components. Another drawback is that the substrate itself introduces dielectric losses to the antenna, reducing its total efficiency.

Proant has taken the concept of small SMD antennas one step ahead by increasing both the antenna performance and design flexibility, and combining this with low cost and manufacturability. The result is the new OnBoard SMD antenna family, which builds on previous OnBoard antennas, but in a surface mounted sheet-metal solution, packaged in tape-on-reel and suitable for high volume manufacturing. One of OnBoard’s key features, which eliminates the need of the dielectric substrate used in other SMD antennas, is the patent-pending capacitively-loaded footprint of the antenna’s supporting pins, which significantly reduces losses and increases the performance.

The first two products to be launched in this 50 ohm RoHS-compliant family are OnBoard SMD 2400 (2.4GHz band) and SMD GPS (GPS and GLONASS). Future variants will include WLAN dual-band, 868/915 MHz, and GSM versions.

“We wanted to simplify antenna integration for our customers,” said Tomas Rutfors, CEO of Proant. “The solution was to make a simple product that satisfies both engineering and sourcing needs. With the OnBoard SMD family, we have defined a new product segment, which didn’t exist before.”

Made in Sweden by Proant AB, a widely respected specialist antenna company in the M2M and wireless market, providing a wide range of embedded and external antennas, OnBoard SMD 2400 (2.4GHz band) and SMD GPS (GPS and Glonass) are available now at under $1 (1000 pcs) from Saelig Company, Inc., the USA technical distributor. A demonstration board is also available at $35.

January 17, 2014
Hemisphere GNSS Launches New Branding, Website

The new Hemisphere GNSS logo uses only the word Hemisphere.

Today, Hemisphere GNSS introduced its new “Hemisphere” corporate branding and logo to reflect its global GNSS focus. The company is also announcing a new website that has been built from the ground up based on customer and partner input.

In February 2013, Hemisphere GPS was renamed and incorporated as Hemisphere GNSS Inc. The company owns both names, but in order to reflect the company’s support of all Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and update the company image, Hemisphere GNSS Inc. will be adopting the use of the new “Hemisphere” logo.

“We are pleased to have completed our transition from a GPS agriculture-focused organization to a truly global GNSS Technology and Applications company. Today we are reaffirming our commitment to offering the best value in GNSS OEM boards, antennas, marine positioning, survey, mapping, and machine control products,” said Phil Gabriel, president at Hemisphere GNSS. “We are now introducing our new stylized globe logo and our updated branding to simply read ‘Hemisphere,’ as well as our new website and URL; www.HemisphereGNSS.com.”

The new website is easier to navigate and will assist customers in finding the information they need in a shorter amount of time, the company said. Employee email addresses are also being updated to first name initial, last name @HemisphereGNSS.com, though old email addresses will continue to work for the foreseeable future.

September 30, 2013
SkyTraq Introduces Venus816, Dual-Antenna Supporting GPS Receiver

The Venus816 on a penny.

SkyTraq Technology Inc., a fabless GNSS positioning technology company, today introduced highly integrated Venus816 single-chip GPS receiver capable of supporting dual passive antenna and active antenna inputs, automatic switching from passive antenna to active antenna, and active antenna short circuit protection without needing extra external components. It offers low BOM cost for antenna-embedded GPS products needing external active antenna option.

The Venus816 includes two RF inputs with integrated antenna switching and external active-antenna current detection. A high-linearity on-chip 20dB gain 0.9dB noise figure LNA is used with one of the inputs, offering cascaded system noise figure of 1.2dB, allowing Venus816 to be used with passive antenna without the need for additional external LNA device.

The Venus816 works with GPS, QZSS, and SBAS signals, features industry leading 40Hz update rate, 29sec cold start TTFF, -148dBm cold start sensitivity, -165dBm tracking sensitivity, multipath suppression, jamming mitigation and reporting.

It is comes in 5mm x 5mm QFN40 package. A minimum of 6 external components is needed to form a working GPS receiver.

Venus816 engineering sample, evaluation kit, datasheet and reference design are available in late of October; mass production begins in November.

September 30, 2013
Leica Zeno GG03 SmartAntenna for GIS Asset Collection Earns IP68 Certification

With its recent Ingress Protection (IP) certification, the Leica Zeno GG03 SmartAntenna is now an IP68-certified SmartAntenna for GIS applications. IP68 represents the top rating for protection against dust, moisture and water. Meeting the tough standards for Ingress Protection (IP) makes the Leica Zeno GG03 a rugged GNSS SmartAntenna for GIS asset collection and management tasks.

The upgradable Leica Zeno GG03 SmartAntenna is designed for organizations that require a compact and lightweight device for accurate and reliable positioning. The robust design of the Zeno GG03 brings further advantages when collecting GIS assets by offering reliable and rugged operation in extreme environments, even after continued exposure to water and dust.

“The Leica Zeno GIS series is used all over the world in the most demanding environments,” said Product Manager Johannes Hotz. “The IP68 rating further underlines the quality and robustness of the Leica Zeno GG03. The industry-leading GNSS performance and an unmatched ultra-rugged design is a big win for our customers in the field.”

September 26, 2013
PCTEL Launches Antennas for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo Apps

PCTEL’s new timing antenna, the GNSS1-TMG-26N.

PCTEL, Inc. announced the launch of its next generation multi-band GNSS antennas for global timing and precision tracking applications at the ION GNSS Conference being held this week in Nashville, Tennessee.

The new antennas, which are designed for use with GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo systems, are being showcased along with other PCTEL antennas at the PCTEL booth in the Exhibit Hall, Booth 318/320. All models of the new antennas are available for sale.

Equipment providers for carrier network timing, precision agriculture, and global asset tracking applications need a single antenna solution for global deployment. PCTEL’s new GNSS1-TMG-26N and GPS-LB12GL-MAG antennas address global compatibility issues for two of the industry’s most crucial applications.

For critical timing applications for macro and small cell deployments, PCTEL has developed the GNSS1-TMG-26N antenna. The GNSS1-TMG-26N is a fixed mount network timing antenna covering GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo system frequencies in one single unit, making it a true global solution.

PCTEL’s GPS-LB12GL-MAG antenna is designed for precision agriculture.

For global precision navigation applications, PCTEL has developed the GPS-LB12GL-MAG to cover GPS L1, GPS L2, GLONASS, and L-BAND constellations. The GPS-LB12GL-MAG’s multi-band coverage addresses the precision market in the USA as well as differential correction signals needed across Europe and Asia.

“PCTEL will meet the GNSS market requirements for our global customers while maintaining PCTEL’s high standards for quality and performance,” said Jeff Miller, president of PCTEL Connected Solutions. “We understand that our products need global compatibility to support our customers around the world. We are proud to showcase our design excellence in this highly technical area,” added Miller.

September 18, 2013